Ninth Life
by DuckieKinz
Summary: Between nosy friends, work and watching reruns of the Graham Norton Show, Amelie was busy enough as it is, add a God of Mischief in kitten form and busy doesn't even begin to cover it.
1. Prologue

**A/N:Jumping on the cat!Loki wagon, he is so adorable.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Loki or Doctor Doom.**

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Prologue

~0~

_Loki stomped through the stupid castle angrily. Really, he had one rule, just one, the Avengers were his, they were not to be challenged or hurt by anyone except for him, was that such a hard thing to do? Was it not simple to adhere to this one little thing? But that stupid Doctor Doom, oh he had just had to take over the city and kidnap Thor didn't he. Why was he even messing around with the Avengers, did the Famous Four(or was it Fantastic Four? Maybe Fabulous Four?) not pose enough of a challenge? Would he have to join them and teach them how to really handle Dr Doom so that the bastard would stop trying to steal Loki's nemeses?!_

_Punching a doombot that had the gall to try and stop him, he looked up and glared at the camera he knew was watching him. Giving in to his base instinct he fell back to Midgardian tradition and hoisted his middle finger at the thing before sending a shock of electricity through it taking it out and overloading the circuit so that all the cameras in the castle were out, drenching the gloomy Latverian castle in darkness as the red lights of the CCTV network went out._

_He punched his way through a wall knowing that Thor was behind it, sensing the Mjolnir's distress call as it amplified Thor's emotions. The Avengers he knew could not feel anything of the sort and had to use their silly technology to find his...not-brother and by then it would be too late. Doctor Doom did not have quite the sense of drama and eloquence that Loki did, he was more like Hulk in his need to 'smash'._

_"Ah Loki Doctor Doom is glad you joined him but he thinks you should have used the do-"_

_Before he could complete the sentence Loki had him by the collar and held him far above the ground._

_"I HAD ONE RULE!"_

_"Rules are meant to be broken." He said with a grin, for one second more Victor than Doctor Doom and that scared Loki. Doom was stupid, consumed with his anger, Victor was smarter, more cunning. It was ironic that the man Doom used to be was more to be feared than the villain._

_"Brother!" Thor cried out and Loki turned to see him strapped down to a table, splayed out. The room was dark except for the spotlight over Thor and in the moment he focused on Thor and was distracted Doom kicked out. Loki lost his grip on Doom's neck and stumbled back a bit, the impact not really enough to cause him any harm._

_"Really?" He scoffed but Doom smiled. He pressed a button and the laboratory came to light._

_Loki was horrified. Horrified at how cliché and unoriginal it was because Doctor Doom had decided to copy the James Bond movie scene down to the look of the laser with its spirals and everything. How unimaginative._

_With one hard punch Doctor Doom was shot out the wall and sent flying into the surrounding shrubbery and Loki set about 'saving' Thor._

_"You cannot break these restraints brother, he made them so no man of Asgard could." Thor said with one eye on the laser that was moving up the table to him and the other on Loki. "Save yourself."_

_"You forget Thor Odinson." Loki's skin shifted to blue, eyes gleaming red and with a touch he froze the metal cuffs. "I am not of Asgard." With one blow the frozen cuffs shattered and Thor was free._

_"Brother!"He said enthusiastically and threw his arms around Loki who quickly returned to his Aesir form._

_"Get off me oaf, I'm not your brother! And even if I was I'd disown you, really how stupid do you have to be to get dragged off to Latveria?! Now can we get a move on already!"_

_"Not so fast Loki," Doom appeared in the hole he had flown out of, a jet engine keeping him afloat. "I knew you'd-"_

_He was cut off when his cape was blown up due to the wind and flew right over his head. Doom frantically waved his hands about his head, reminding Loki of an amusing gif he'd seen on the Interweb of a girl facing a bee, only infinitely funnier. Thor clearly thought so too because he burst into laughter while Loki rolled his eyes._

_The man gave super villains a bad name._

_"You shall pay for your laughter!" Doom said once he was in control of his cape and jumped up to the laser pointing it firmly at Thor. Loki moved as quickly as he could and teleported them out of there but not before the laser hit him right in his chest._

_He hadn't gotten them far as they reappeared in the woods outside the castle. Loki fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. It was like he was on fire, the flames licking his chest before growing, travelling down his arms and legs._

_"Loki!" Thor crouched next to him in concern, "Are you alright brother?!"_

_"I told you," He gritted out before curving closer to the ground, his hands digging into the moist earth painfully, "I'm not your brother." He ended with a scream and overhead them the Avengers flew to them hearing the scream._

_"Point break you're fine?" Stark said puzzled, the face plate coming off._

_"I am unharmed, Loki he-"_

_"Stand down Reindeer Games."_

_"No," Thor came to stand between him and Loki, "my brother saved me!" _

_The roar of a quinjet filled the air and Loki used the distraction to stumble away a hand clutched to his middle. _

_Once he thought he was far away enough he leaned against a tree, the adrenaline fading away, making him very aware of the pain. He could feel his body changing, a ripple over his spine, slowly moving over the rest of him and shuddered. His flesh felt stretched out and cramp at the same time, the only sound he heard was the rush of blood in his ears. Before his eyes his hand changed, his knuckle bones practically curling in on themselves, skin taking on an ashen grey hue._

_When he opened his eyes again, everything looked different, bigger somehow. He tried to stand up and fell back with a yowl. That struck him as odd, he wasn't really a 'yowl' kind of person. He tried and again fell back and on his third try he fell forward and threw his arms out bracing for impact. Fortunately there was none, unfortunately it was because he was a cat and cats always landed on their feet. _

_He looked around properly this time and saw paws in place of his hands, covered in black fur. _

_"We have to find him!" His brother's voice boomed and as noises grew all around him he fell back, hiding behind the tree."He was hurt because of me, if anything happened to him-"_

_Loki peeked out from behind the tree to see Thor with a wild look in his eye, clearly distressed. Stark followed after him putting a comforting hand on Thor's back which went ignored when Thor practically ran to where Loki was hiding. Loki climbed up the tree, instinct screaming at him to run from the giant mass of muscle that was coming to him and settled on a branch._

_Thor stopped right in front of the tree and fell to his knees. He reached out to the pile of clothes that had been left behind during Loki's transformation and gently drew them to him. "Brother-"_

_"Thor, I'm sorry but-"_

_"No!"_

_"Thor we've combed this place and found nothing, he obviously isn't here. I think it's time to face facts, Loki's...gone."_

_In his perch high up above Loki rolled his eyes. He was the most powerful sorcerer in the nine realms and they thought some silly little toy that Doom made would destroy him? How stupid could they get?! He snorted and it sounded like a sneeze, an adorable sneeze and he cursed Doom for turning him into this form. It was the last time he was ever going to try to save anyone, it just wasn't worth the trouble, honestly._

_But the sneeze caught their attention. Stark and Thor both turned to look up and he found himself being watched by two of his sworn enemies._

_**"What?"** He tried to say but it came out as a pathetic little mewl instead. _

_"Poor thing is stuck." Stark said. "We should get him out of there."_

_"Loki-"_

_"Look Thor, Loki's strong okay. The dude was hit by a laser and somehow still managed to save both your asses, he's probably just somewhere trying to recuperate. Hell, maybe he's a nudist, I don't know but what I do know is that he's like a cockroach, practically impossible to kill. Aliens from outer space have tried and failed, I highly doubt that Doom is going to succeed."_

_Okay so maybe they weren't complete idiots._

_Thor was mollified."You're right, he's probably fine but I cannot help but worry. He is my brother after all." _

_**"I'm not your brother!"** Loki tried to say and the meowing caught their attention again._

_"I'm going to ask Heimdall if he can see my brother's whereabouts." Thor said still looking up at him in the tree thoughtfully. "My lady's birthday is upon us soon."_

_"Jane's birthday's coming up? So what?"Stark was baffled. It amused Loki._

_"Do you think she might accept a pet as a courting gift?" _

_He wasn't that amused anymore._


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers. But apparently Faunaa and Green Thumb do not exist as part of any superhero universe and I can claim them, feel free to correct me if I am wrong though, I often am.**

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_Ninth Life:Chapter 1_

_~1~_

It was a beautiful Saturday morning in New York, warm with a slight breeze and because of the fight between Green Thumb and Faunaa the night before, there were flowers blossoming all over the city leading to an outbreak of hay fever that left many a jogger in Central Park sneezing and coughing uncontrollably.

Amélie smiled as she snuggled into her covers, burying her face deep in her pillow and inhaling the clean apple smell of fabric softener. Saturday mornings were for sleeping in, lazing about in pyjamas and sweet, quiet solitude that was only too welcome after an entire week of waking up to get the early train, being jostled around by crowds and the intense atmosphere of working in the PR department of a company that was in the middle of a huge merger.

Unfortunately sweet, quiet solitude was broken when the door bell rang. She groaned and covered her head with lightly fisted hands, a little wrinkle in her forehead blossoming when, despite all her attempts to ignore it, the ringing continued. After the second, third and fourth time it went off though, she got off her bed and stumbled out to open the door.

In a whirl of perfume, wool and glasses, Darcy Lewis, or as she was known to some of her friends, Hurricane Darcy, came through the door and settled herself on Amélie's couch before she could blink.

Since Darcy moved to New York after the Avengers incident her impromptu visits were becoming more and more frequent but this was unheard of, Darcy Lewis was never awake before eleven on Saturdays and it was only eight which was practically Friday night for her.

"Mel what are you doing standing at the door, you're letting all the cold air out." Darcy proclaimed taking her driving gloves off shaking them off disgracefully. 'Mel' sat down with a great big whoosh, mouth open unattractively staring at her friend for what seemed like ages before finally noticing what Darcy had in her hands.

"Is that a Chanel handbag?!" She shrieked and Darcy flinched at the high pitched sound. "But you hate Chanel!"

"No, it's worse." Darcy opened up the flaps of the bag to reveal a ball of black fur asleep in it. "It's a Chanel pet carrier."

"That's a cat." Amélie pointed and stared.

"Yes, it is a cat."

"What is it doing in my house?"

Darcy sighed, picked up the ball of fluff and put it onto her lap."Yes well, Janie's wonderfully muscular, hot, jock of a Thunder God boyfriend saw this little kitten that he had found after some fight in Latveria and decided to give it to her a courting present."

Amélie winced knowing Jane's many allergies well after a dinner when Jane accidentally ate mushrooms and she had to stab her with an EpiPen while Darcy freaked out. "Ooh boy, I'm guessing Jane's in the hospital right now?"

"Yup and Lover boy is freaking out and waxing poetic at her bedside. When I tried to tell him it's just an allergic reaction to the cat hair he asked me to find a 'suitable home for this tiny creature that hath been maltreated most gravely'."

Amélie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She did not like where this was headed."And you decided to come here because?"

"I was thinking that maybe you'd adopt him?"

"WHAT?!"

"Well you're great with children so I figure a kitty will be right up your sleeve." Darcy said nervously while her friend stared at the ball of fluff with horror in her eyes.

"No it isn't!"

"Please Mel, I don't want to take him to the pound and my apartment building doesn't allow animals. Besides if I knew you had someone here with you it would make me feel so much better."

"...You're right, a kitten adds so much to my security." She deadpanned.

"Please, Amélie, please, please please?" Darcy broke into a pout.

"Ugh stop with the big anime eyes. Fine, I'll take it. Man, I need to learn how to be less easily manipulated." The little kitten woke up almost instantaneously then and the two laughed as his ears pricked up looking at Amélie with what was almost an expression before going back to his nap stretching adorably in Darcy's lap.

"Aww sleeping beauty awakes!" Darcy cooed and rubbed her finger under the cat's chin which only annoyed him and he swatted her hand away with little paws.

Amélie snorted. "Yes at the exact moment I mentioned the word manipulate."

"What are you going to name him?"

"Ah, so he's a boy. You guys didn't decide on a name?"

"Well Thor called him," Darcy hesitated, "Prince Fluffy."

Amélie gasped in horror and reached over to the cat still in Darcy's lap, pulling him into her arms and patting his back softly. "Don't worry kitten, I'll protect you from the evil Thunder God who can't name things worth shit."

"Great so you're going to keep him, now come with me."

"Where?"

"To the car, there's a **lot** of stuff for the cat."

"Wait what?" Amélie was confused.

"Well Stark took Thor shopping for all his kitten needs. I don't know if you know this but multi-billionaires don't really have any sense of scale when it comes to shopping and neither do Asgardian princes. This cat has more toys than I do." Darcy glared at the kitten who ignored her in favour of licking himself.

Within minute they stood outside the building looking a Darcy's which was filled to the brim with cat supplies.

"Okay now I'm scared, why does he need all this?"

"I don't care I just want all this shit out of my car so less talking, more pack mule-ing."

.

.

.

Loki was not a happy Super Villain. First he had to rescue his idiot not-brother then he'd tried to be a hero and made the sacrifice play (the Soldier was growing increasingly repetitive, the drivel he spewed was infecting even Loki's mind now) and the one time he had been rooting for Doom's ploy to fail it hadn't. Here he was now, in a tiny feline form where he felt the need to lick himself over and over again.

A cat. A tiny Midgardian cat, dependent upon others for his survival. How humiliating.

And then as if he hadn't been demeaned enough, he had been 'rescued' by his oaf of a blonde brother who insisted on calling him Prince Fluffy and giving him to his woman who had then passed him on to yet another woman once she began hacking and coughing incessantly.

And now he was in some strange place. The other woman had left him with yet another person. This one didn't smell nearly as obnoxious as the other woman did but he didn't like being carted around from person to person like a damn parcel. He was a living being damn it, a God at that!

His new home was nice though. Lots of windows which meant that his afternoon naps in the sun would be easier now that he didn't have to battle the curtains that the other woman (what was her name again? Something silly he was sure, Darwin?)always left down. Smaller, less fashionable but much more comfortable. He stretched out, yawned and began prowling through his new domain. Just as he was about to step into the kitchen, a hand swooped in picking him off the floor and setting him on the couch in the living room.

"No no no, you are not allowed in the kitchen, I shall not have you shedding in the place where I make my food, is that clear?" His new 'mistress' shook a stern finger at him.

She smelt like apples.

What was wrong with him, why was he thinking like a cat?! Thinking about afternoon naps and curtains when he really should be thinking about finding a way to turn back into his normal form!

"_Human, you will let me go this instant!"_ He said, dismayed when it came out in the form of meows and snarls. She just smiled and narrowed her eyes at him while he panicked.

"Noisy little one aren't you? Well if I am going to take care of you I'd best make sure you're clean." She pulled him into her lap once he started to stray away and with one hand securing him tightly to her side while with the other she picked up the phone and began dialling a number. He tried to get away from her but after the fifth failed attempt to free himself he just sat down and began to sulk. Being less strong than a tiny scrap of a girl would take some getting used to.

"Hello is this Dr Drake's office? I'd like to make an appointment."

At that his ears pricked up, Faunaa's alter ego was a Dr Drake. She could talk to animals and despite their falling out last month he was certain she'd be glad to help him out of this fix, having the God of Chaos on your side was always beneficial. Yes, this would work out well.

From her vantage point Amélie snorted as she observed her new pet. His tail was high in the air and he was purring happily. Her cat was happy but she wondered how long that would last once he realised they were in for a trip to the vet. He was such a strange kitty, she thought, happy when he heard he had to go to the vet and it almost felt like he was talking to her, she could swear there was a tone to his mewls and purrs. But he was a cat, not a human after all.

Amélie had never had a pet not even when she was young, she had lived with two little brothers who seemed pretty animalistic to her but never a pet. She found it hard enough to take care of herself and all the friends that kept on dropping by her house and adding a permanent addition to her household had never been in her plans. She had gotten rather used to living on her own and for her to have another dependant in her house that she would have to adjust to was throwing her off.

Would she have to hide all the chocolate? It was poisonous to cats wasn't it or was that just dogs? Well at least she didn't have to buy anything he'd need, Tony Stark had gone to crazy town with his shopping and even gotten a one year supply of cat food from the local organic pet food store, it was ridiculous and had taken three trips to Darcy's car to unload everything. Still, some things she would have to do for herself.

"There must be _something_ on the internet." She said out loud and with the kitten still in her arms she walked to her bedroom and settled him on her blanket while she switched on the laptop at her work desk.

While waiting for it to turn on she turned in her swivel chair pulling her feet up and looked him over carefully. He was too sleek for a kitten, too sinuous and wild in his eyes. He seemed more like a miniature panther than a cat. And then there were those eyes of his, ridiculously emerald but in the right light they looked blue, nothing like the typical yellow or even the green. She's never seen a cat with such eyes before. And those eyes were trained on her. The cat was giving her the once-over just as she was doing to him, she realised and smirked. What a smart little cat!

"Prince Fluffy I suggest you stop staring at me like that." He bared his teeth the second the name Thor had given him left her mouth and she laughed. Very smart cat. "You don't like your name? Well then what shall we call you? How about Neko? It means cat in Japanese but perhaps it's too literal for you?" He hissed and again, his tone seemed to say volumes.

"Noodle? I like that name." Another hiss.

"Picky, picky, picky. Really kitten, what kind of name do you want then? Ink? Is that suitably manly for you?" He cocked his head to the side, considering it before mewling. "Alright then, Ink it is, although Prince Fluffy is a nice name too." She teased.

The cat was glaring at her. But perhaps she should start calling him Ink from now. After all he clearly wasn't going anywhere.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If you recognise it, I don't own it.**

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Ninth Life: Chapter 2

~2~

Loki woke up to the horrible sound of Midgardian music .It was his first day in this human's house and she was not making a very good impression. He left the hideous pink monstrosity that was his bed, courtesy of that moronic Stark with a customised 'Prince Fluffy' written over it, and padded out of the bedroom his tail swishing behind him.

"Hello my bonny boy! Isn't this a most beautiful Sunday?" The human cooed twisting the giant dark brown bush on her head that she called hair into an ungraceful bun and sticking a pair of chopsticks from the kitchen drawer through it. This person was a mess and yet somehow responsible for his safety, he didn't need to be Heimdall to know this would end badly for both of them.

She switched off the music when he jumped up to the kitchen counter. "Wait a minute, did I not tell you no going into the kitchen?"

_"I go where I want!"_ Or as she heard it 'Meooooow'. Would the humiliation never end?!

She picked him up and set him on the floor before joining him there, sitting across him cross-legged with a sorry expression that reminded him of Thor.

He hated it.

"We didn't get off on the right foot yesterday. I'm sorry about that, the night before I had to attend a club's opening and keep track of the guest of honour who has a tendency to get rip roaring drunk and throw up on people. Not fun." She waved her hands around, her face so full of emotion it almost scared him. " Of course both of us spent most of our time sleeping so I don't think it mattered much to you. Still I didn't want to give you the impression that I'm a permanent grumpy pants. I'm actually quite fun and-"

He had grown rather tired of the mortal's rambling and jumped up onto her shoulder, ignored her squeal of surprise and used it as a launch pad to get to the counter. She got up and narrowed her eyes at him and he yawned before stalking off and traipsing all over her precious kitchen.

He had faced a Titan on a barren moon, the great Allfather, the king of the Jotunn and none of them had struck fear in his heart, a little mortal was hardly going to manage where they had failed. "Fine then, I'll look up ways to keep you out of here later. Best beware Ink, the internet is full of unusual methods to defeat the cat overlords." She shook her finger in his face and he sighed.

Cat overlord, really? It was just his luck that when he stopped trying to take over Midgard, one of them would acknowledge him as the leader.

"Just you wait, when you least expect it, I'm going to strike and you shall fear me!" She burst into hideous laughter and he shot her a bored look; evil laughter was best left to super villains, mere mortals just couldn't imitate the plethora of emotions it required. She stuck out her tongue at him and began playing that god-awful music again, this time dancing and singing to it.

He watched from his perch on the counter as she swung her arms around and twirled. She stumbled over the strap of his pet carrier and fell face first to the ground. With a giggle she got up and continued dancing wildly. He had to admit that she moved well, graceful when she wasn't falling over but it was rare for her to stay upright, he noted as her sock clad foot slid out from under her and she fell to the ground. Again.

How had he lost to such a pitiable race?!

She must have sensed his derision because she looked right at him and raised an eyebrow."Don't get too cocky kitty, we're going to the V-E-T today and that's not fun."

_"I look forward to meeting Faunaa with bated breath." _He trilled.

.

.

.

"Hey Gretchen, how's it going?"

This was not Faunaa, he realised with alarm and began struggling in his human's arms, this was simply a woman who looked quite a bit like her. Loki knew Faunaa well, they had a falling out when he accidentally stepped on a cockroach and killed it but they remained allies and this was no Dr Felicity Drake.

They shared enough facial characteristics for him to deduce that this 'Gretchen' was her daughter. The same cupid's bow, strong jaw line and grey eyes.

"Hey Ames, you wanted me to check out your new cat?" Faunaa's daughter said with her hands tucked into the pockets of her white coat while his human kept a tight grasp on him. He took the opportunity to look around the strange room for any means of escape.

"I know I should have been more prepared before coming here but I was a bit worried. Apparently he's from Latveria."

"Latveria? How did you get there, I thought Doom had the place on lockdown?"

His human threw one hand in the air clasping him closer to her with the other. She was very dramatic, this one.

"Don't ask, I don't even know. Apparently the Avengers are literally rescuing kittens from trees now. But my main concern is that he might have some local disease or something, I don't know. I thought it would be best to get the blood work done as soon as possible especially because I don't know if he's feral or from a shelter or anything."

"They didn't tell you anything?"

"There was an incident involving allergies so the poor baby was just going from person to person, you remember Darcy right?"

Poor baby? Ugh he hadn't been called that in millennia now, except for that one time with Stark that had ended with the Iron Man being hurled through two buildings. That day had been fun, he wished he could return to that moment in time and relive it over and over again instead of being here.

"The brunette with the tatas, sure." Faunaa's daughter nodded and Loki absently wondered what 'tatas' were.

"Well apparently she got him from someone else who got him from the Avengers and now he's with me, I don't know what garbled version of his back-story I've been given but from what I understand they….picked him out of a tree. I don't even know how old he is or if he's healthy or there's something else wrong with him." He noticed that she was an excellent liar. She knew very well he'd come from Jane via Thor, had even mentioned knowing her when speaking to Darcy but she was concealing that fact well enough. Just enough half-truths and flair to prevent further questioning. Maybe she was of some use after all."….seriously they picked him up and flew him here, how crazy is that? Meanwhile when I'm travelling from other countries I get pulled aside for carrying cherry tomatoes with me!"

"He doesn't seem sick but we should do the tests. We'll just wait for the assistant, I can usually do this on my own but Mom's not here and he seems a bit antsy so…"

"Not gonna lie, I'm really glad she's not here. Your mom scares the shit out of me." His human shivered and Loki scoffed. Being afraid of Faunaa was….pitiful, weak.

"Yeah well she's off picketing something." The one who was not Faunaa sighed before shaking it off and smiled at him like he was a child. It nauseated him. "So what's his name?"

"Formerly Prince Fluffy and now he has risen from the ashes as Ink." His human sounded ridiculously pleased with herself. He could appreciate the dramatic flair though, the grandiose hand gestures were a nice touch. Still his name was not and would never be Ink (even if it was a huge step up from Prince Fluffy).

_"The name is Loki. Former King of Asgard, current bane of the Avengers' existence. "_ He preened, hoping against all hopes that perhaps Faunaa might have passed on her ability to talk to animals to her progeny. When she simply giggled and scratched him between his ears he knew that she hadn't and deflated.

His human ran a calming hand down his back and against his will he relaxed. While in this form his instincts had more control over him than usual. He had already found as a cat that sleep now came easier to him and more often as well. He napped in the sun for long stretches of the day when barely a few hours ago he was wracked with insomnia. He had spent more time asleep in the last two days than in the last entire week and it both irked and soothed his mind.

"Are you a feral cat?" Faunaa's daughter cooed and he rolled his eyes. Faunaa would have been more disappointed in her than the Allfather was in him and that was really saying something.

"He's smart. Real smart." His human answered for him and he was proud of her for noticing.

"Feral cats can be smart too."

"But he's more smart-smart than street-smart you know?" The pride was retracted. "I've only had him for a day but he hasn't been itching to go out and he isn't scared of me at all. He doesn't shy away from human contact at all, I think he's just a stray."

"I see what you mean."

Another human burst through the door and his human's grip on him tightened. Try as he might he could not get himself free, yet another reminder of how woefully helpless he was in this tiny form.

"You called for assistance?"

"Excellent, now that you're here we can finally get started." Faunaa's daughter snapped on a glove and a noise that sounded a lot like a squeak left his mouth.

.

.

.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!"

His human fussed over him once they were in her home and he ignored her. He had entrusted his safety to her and had been violated by her 'friend' all in the name of taking a temperature and there had been other disrespects done to his person, he had been needled as well. Midgard was far too primitive a place.

"No really I am, but I had to make sure you were healthy."

_"And you do so by torturing me?!"_ It came out only as an angry growl.

"I'm sorry I really am, but come on you had no id on you and you're a stray from another fricking country, you could have picked up something really bad on the streets you know, we had to make sure you were fine!"

_"Torture!"_ He repeated his anger evident in the way he hissed and growled.

"I'll make it up to you I promise, I'll get you more treats than you could handle and I'll get you another scratching post and ...and..." She trailed off to think and he scoffed derisively. Not that she understood, she'd just stood there telling him lies about how it was fine it was normal while he was defiled! "I don't know how to do this. I didn't plan on having you here, it just kind of happened, I've never thought of having a pet I get attached far too easily and a lot of you have short life spans, I don't know how to responsible for someone else's life!" She practically sobbed.

He quieted down when it became clear that she was in the middle of having a panic attack and waited for her to calm down, hysterical women had never been his forte. Eventually her breaths slowed to a more even pace and she could talk again without sounding like an idiot.

"I don't know how to be a pet owner, but in my defence you don't really know how to be a pet either. Now what I _do_ know, is how to be a crazily overprotective older sister who drives people nuts with her paranoia. _That_ is not fun for anyone involved. So how about we dial it down a notch, you be calm, I'll be calm and we both get along until I die, how's that?"

She held out a hand and after some careful thinking he put his paw in hers and they both relaxed.

"Okay, now I'm going to watch some TV and try very hard not to think about the fact that I just spent the last few minutes of my life negotiating with a cat. And that the cat agreed to the deal. Okay." She picked him up and sat down on the couch. "Man I need to learn how to deal with conflict."

She flicked on the TV and it went straight to a news channel. He didn't pay much attention to it even though it was playing a clip of him, too caught up in the feel of her fingers in his fur raking her nails just in that little spot between his shoulder blades that had been irking him since they came back from the vet's.

"...has been six weeks since we last saw Loki, God of Mischief, try to take over the world, one can only wonder when he will strike next and what tricks he has up his sleeve, this is Karen Miller for -"

"Son of a bitch!" She whispered and abruptly stopped petting him.

He was taken aback by her reaction. Sure he'd tried to take over the world a couple of times and ever since he'd escaped from Asgard's prison a year ago he'd been wreaking havoc all over Midgard but it was really just silly pranks.

And the clip they were playing of him was from weeks ago of his last attack on the city when he'd commandeered an army of giant Kermit the Frog toys. Not his best idea but he was bored and fond of the green puppet. Hardly something to get angry over, he hadn't even caused that much damage.

She leaped towards her phone, "Alison you may want to check WXY news."

And just like that she went from complete basket case to actual professional. He watched as she paced the room, standing just a little bit taller now, a certain tension in her shoulders and even her voice was clipped and spoke so fast he could barely keep up.

"No no no not Loki, under the main segment. They're running wrong information about the merger as an 'update' on the situation. The other channels have picked up the story too."

For some reason he felt quite relieved that he wasn't the reason she was so agitated.

"Okay, I'll work off what we've already got, shouldn't take too long. I'll email it to you as soon as it's finished." She cut the call, falling onto the couch and screaming into a pillow before looking up at him, morose. "Okay, back to work."

He watched her flit from room to room before she settled down in front of the TV with him, a laptop open in front of her. Her fingers flew over the key quickly but he was alarmed by the force with she was pressing down on them. Surely the click-clack sounds weren't supposed to be this loud?

It was enough to force him to sit a fair bit away not wanting to be hit by a rogue key that would probably fly off soon considering the way she was punching them. She noticed his slight movement and rolled her eyes at him.

"Seriously, you nearly clawed my eyes out because I took you to the vet to make sure you were healthy and now you're running away from me? Really Ink, I feel so unloved." But despite her words she stopped murdering her keyboard and smiled.

Taking a chance on her good mood he edged closer to her and pawed at her thigh. That little spot on his back was still feeling itchy. He could reach it with his hind legs but that would be ungainly especially when he could just make the human do all the work.

"Sorry darling, I'm in damage control mode right now. I have to write a press release, get it approved by my team leader and then translate it into three languages, format it and put it up on the company website before joining the others in making some very important phone calls to keep this bad situation from getting worse." She took a deep breath, hands stilling in their movement. "This is going to be a very long night. Feels like there should be inspirational music playing in the background. Maybe 'Eye of the tiger'." Having no clue what that meant he simply mewled again.

_"Scratch my back."_

She raked her nails down his back one last time before returning to her work and he sulked.

Eventually the day went by, the sunlight outside dimming into night and she only took a break once he began hissing and cribbing. Even then she only stopped for half an hour, just enough time for her to put some food out for him and make herself a sandwich.

She had enough sense to give him some attention though, petting him properly in that short window of time until he felt content to roam around the house and pretend to play with the many toys he had. One in particular fascinated him, it was a simple stuffed toy but smelled like heaven.

Amélie smiled as she watched Ink throw the stuffed mouse around, tossing it and catching it quickly. Catnip was a miraculous thing and Ink was being utterly adorable batting the toy about and making those little purring sounds. She wished she could join him in his play time but there simply wasn't enough time. She had far too many things on her plate right now and with half the team not answering their phones she and Alison had a lot of work to do.

Finally at two in the morning of a Monday that was sure to be terrible she was done and with a satisfied smile she shut off her laptop only to find that she couldn't quite sleep. It was her own fault really, that last cup of espresso was unnecessary and she was paying the price for it.

She returned to the living room with a glass of warm milk, hoping to sleep off with the TV playing in the background and saw that her little friend had abandoned that giant bed of his to take up space on the couch instead. She plodded out and sat down next to him, moving him onto a cushion at the end of the couch and sprawled out on it fully. She switched on the TV and listened to the drone of the narrator as some animal program played out on the screen.

Ink woke up at sound and blearily watched it with her for a few seconds before returning to dreamland. She scratched him between his ears and lowered the volume a bit, unfolding herself and burrowing into another pillow to sleep.

Sleep came easy when Ink's content purring snores combined with the buzz of the TV to create a harmonic tune.

This cohabitation thing, she thought as she finally fell asleep, might just work out.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: If you recognise it, I don't own it.**

* * *

_Ninth Life: Chapter 3_

_~3~_

When Loki woke up his human was getting ready to leave. She was dressed and buzzed, leaping from one room to the other and he noticed that she was in the process of putting on her makeup and sat up straight to watch.

Loki had always found the act of putting on make-up curious. In Asgard men were not allowed to watch such a ceremony, it was a sign of intimacy that he had never shared with anyone. When he had to dress up as a bridesmaid to trick a certain Jotunn giant, he had been given a grudging lesson by his mother's Vanir attendants, the only women willing to let the trickster god see such a ceremony and even then only when he was already in his female form.

His human had no such sense of decorum, she was brusque in her actions pausing in front of the mirror only long enough to trace a line of kohl under her eyes, the rest was a blur, she walked around the room with the phone tucked into the crook of her neck, swiping a shade of pink on her mouth quickly. She hopped on one leg trying to get her feet into boots while blotting the excess and scrubbing a tinted cream into her face like she was washing it. It was sad to see, made even sadder when he realised that all her running around hadn't done her any harm.

By all rights she should have looked like a clown but she didn't, instead she looked peachy fresh and young. It irked him, that such a sacred ritual had been turned into a race was pathetic.

"….. Saturday, I'll Skype you then okay but I really need to go now, I'm going to be horribly late!" With the call finally done she stopped hopping around instead turning to him.

_"That was disgraceful."_

"No no I don't need to hear anything from you, I've already gotten a lecture from my baby brother, I have to leave now. Your food is already out and I've left a bowl of water as well, you should be fine for the day and remember the kitchen is off limits."

As if to spite her he moved in the direction of the kitchen and she glared at him before her eyes turned to the clock behind him.

"Crap I'm going to miss my train." She wound a scarf around her neck and walked up to him. Before he could protest she planted a kiss on his head right in between his ears and scratched under his chin for a millisecond. "Be good." She said as she left the house quickly and he wished he was in his normal form if only so she could hear him laugh at that request.

'Be good', he scoffed, honestly he hadn't laughed that hard in years!

Against all odds though, Loki found himself actually being good in the days that followed. Not entirely so of course, he still pranced into the kitchen if only to irritate her and he kept on taking her stuff and moving it but beyond that he had been very good.

It might have had a lot to do with the fact that he simply didn't have the capability to cause that much mischief in this form or the fact that he had spent the past two days simply trying to figure out the floor plan of the place because everything seemed just that much bigger now that he was so small but still he found himself behaving very well.

Instead Loki had spent most of the week trying to figure out his human. There was more to her than met the eye he was sure of it. He didn't just mean the lies that slid off her tongue with such ease and intrigued him greatly but other things as well. There were times when he caught her looking out the window with an odd expression on her face. He recognised it, had worn it himself enough times to label it as guarded suspicion.

When the curtains were left up even the way she moved was different, calculatedly nonchalant as if she knew she was being watched but didn't want to let on to it. He himself had felt the prickle of being watched at many times but never been able to pinpoint the source of it, unused to how his senses worked in cat form. He had tried exploring during the day but found himself spending most of the hours sleeping and when awake the bright light had slowed him down, his cat eyes unused to the bright light and he himself unused to the cat eyes.

Until Friday that is.

By Friday he had figured out enough about the house to do some proper exploring. He now knew just how much force to jump with to reach all the higher shelves, how to open the door knobs despite the lack of opposable thumbs and most importantly, he had figured out how to use the toilet without falling in and how to flush, both of which had taken quite some time.

Having overheard a conversation between his human and the Darcy female Thor had handed him over to, he knew that she had a date on Friday night which would have her out of the house for even longer than the usual, the time was perfect. Now if only he could get her to stop dallying about and actually leave.

Loki lolled on her bed, waiting for her to leave the bathroom. He considered what was taking her so long and wondered if it involved the freezer she kept next to her tub. He'd been on Midgard long enough to know that it was not the norm and he had been puzzled by its presence there.

She burst into the bedroom pulling him out of his thoughts only for him to sit up at attention at what she was wearing.

She stood in an impossibly short robe of black silk and see through hose that ended at a scandalous point, mid-thigh. Between those two and the very high heels on her feet he hoped she was staying in rather than going out.

"What should I wear to the date?" She sang to herself absentmindedly and Loki watched her from his perch on her bed.

Oh good, he thought, she's not just harlot-ing around, she's going to wear actual clothes but part of him was disappointed by the same. She wasn't as full-bodied as most women he knew but still there was a sense of appeal to how svelte she was and the way she carried herself added to it.

_"Nothing."_He said playfully, flicking his tail amused by the mental picture of her going to meet her date in the nude.

She whirled around in shock, her fists clenched and eyes ridiculously wide; she looked at all the windows and possible entryways.

"Who the hell said that?!" She was breathing hard and in full panic mode while Loki grinned as much as his cat face allowed him to.

He could talk! Not just mewling and purring, actual speech. It was just as well that she would be leaving for her date soon because he wanted desperately to check the limits of his newly found abilities. Who knew, perhaps he might even be able to shift back into his normal form and be rid of her by the end of the day. It wasn't to say that she was completely intolerable but being weak and defenceless was grating on his nerves.

Amélie on the other hand was getting exceedingly confused and frazzled. While this was often her normal state, it was not fun and it was definitely not fun when combined with a blind date.

She didn't lead the life of a nun but blind dates were just strange, to meet up a person that you don't really know was always awkward and Amélie was awkward to begin with. Between that and hearing sexy British voices (her imagination deserved a pat on the back for coming up with that _smouldering_ voice) she was getting increasingly demoralised about this date but she knew that if she bailed on this date without a good reason Darcy would kill her.

Just when she had finally resigned herself to go on the date though a sharp beeping noise rang through the house. She dove for the dresser where the pager was kept and pulled it out with shaking hands.

_"Need to talk."_ The message read. She knew who'd sent it and knew where she had to go. Part of her was glad she now had a reason to avoid the date but the other half was nervous. That message was ominous and she could only think of several bad things that she might need to talk about.

Still, if Darcy found out from her friend that Amélie had stood him up then she would be incredibly angry and with that in mind she dialled Darcy's number.

"Hello?"

"Darcy I can't do this, I can't go on this date!" She wrung her hand in nervousness ignoring Ink's sudden yowl.

"What do you mean you can't go on this date?!"

"I have a work emergency and I have to leave right now, don't really know when I'll be free."

"What, no! You aren't just lying to get out of this are you?"

"No, I really do have to go meet someone right now, it's kind of urgent." That was the truth at least. Sure it wasn't for work but it was really quite urgent. Lizzy only ever contacted her when she thought Amélie _really_ needed to know something.

"Fine but you better make it up to me."

"Ice cream date next Wednesday?"

"Done." And with that Darcy cut the call and Amélie heaved a sigh of relief. She hated it when Darcy was mad at her. She flopped back onto the bed, leaning her head on one hand to look at Ink who seemed to be extraordinarily happy all of a sudden. "Well Ink, looks like you're all alone tonight."

'Ink' mewled happily.

In the next few hours Loki practiced using his paws in a more efficient way, he'd turned on the laptop on his own even though it had taken some tries and a lot of head butting to open it up. He could also use her electric kettle although he didn't really have a reason to. And now that he had his voice back he had prank called the Avengers like he used to before, it was always fun for him to ask Thor if one of the various appliances in the Avenger's tower was running and then asking him to catch them. He fell for that trick every single time.

But his voice coming back had him thinking of how the effects of the laser would be reversed. It would take some time obviously and time was something he had in abundance, but how exactly would it happen? Would he just wake up one day in his normal form? Would it come back to him in bits and pieces?

His magic had been growing as well, slowly but steadily. He hadn't managed anything big but levitating things was now possible.

Loki wondered if there was anything at all that might have been able to hasten the process and thought back over the battle with Doom.

Victor had planned for the laser to be used on Thor. Even the restraints he had used had been more than proficient against Thor's strength, it could be speculated then that his machine was calibrated to be used against Aesir as well and Loki's frost giant might just be his saviour this time.

Ever since his encounter with the frost giants in Jotunheim, whenever he came into contact with ice or stayed in an atmosphere below freezing point he had automatically reverted to his Jotunn form. It had made the last meeting of The Cabal very awkward when upon drinking the slushy that Norman had provided for the group he had suddenly turned blue, consequently been presumed to be a spy and then shot at. Keeping this in mind he opened up the freezer that his human stored right next to the tub in her bathroom. He didn't know why she had one there, or what she would possibly use it for but it was convenient that he wouldn't need to jump up constantly to reach the freezer door on the refrigerator in the kitchen, just to get some ice.

He imagined the look on his face to be something like that of that Jack Sparrow fellow (_Captain_ Jack Sparrow he corrected himself) opening the chest in that movie his human watched so often. He wondered what treasures he would find in the freezer, what could she possibly be keeping in it? Perhaps a head?

His anticipation fell flat when the only thing in the freezer turned out to be ice. Lots and lots of it and all of it in a bucket. The more he got to know about his human the more strange she seemed.

He grabbed a cube of ice expecting something, anything and got it. The second the cold seeped through his fur and reached his skin he turned back into his Jotunn form slowly and painfully. His insides were being stretched out, bones elongating and within seconds he sat there, naked and blue clutching a tiny ice cube in his hand.

His elation at having opposable thumbs again was only negated by his hatred of this form and he set about trying to revert to his Aesir form. The second the pinkish hue returned to this skin the ice cube began melting and when the cube finally turned to water he began shrinking again, skin turning grey before sprouting fur, the bones that had only just grown big a few minutes ago retracting again and then he stood on the cold tile a weak little cat again.

He only hoped that his human wasn't having the best time either. Misery did love company after all.

* * *

On the other side of town Amélie contemplated herself and how screwed up she was.

She was a liar by nature. Even before she had reason to lie she had kept secrets. It wasn't hard to do really, she had been a shy child and when she would answer questions with silence people had assumed her to be quiet when the truth was she just didn't want to share.

It was a part of who she was, as intrinsic as the intellect some people boasted, or the stubborn nature that others had, that Amélie kept secrets. She planned things in her mind constantly and she often kept no confidantes. Feelings needed confidantes but plans did not, was what she believed. So it stood that despite her having plenty of friends who knew a lot about her, from the way she really felt about the Lost finale to the odd superstitions she kept during Manchester City matches, not a single one could accurately guess what was going on in her mind.

This was excellent because what was in her mind was mostly dangerous and illegal.

She stood at the corner of the street where she knew Lizzy would be arriving soon with two tumblers of the pumpkin spice latte that she favoured. Soon enough the rattle of the shopping cart filled to the brim in what most people would call junk and yet Amélie knew to hold Lizzy's home clued her in to her homeless friend's arrival and with a big smile Lizzy with her long white hair and a green and blue tie dyed dress walked over to her.

"Hey Liz, I got you your favourite."

Lizzie took it from her with a grateful smile before looking at her suspiciously. "Full fat milk right?"

"I learn from my mistakes."

The sat down on a nearby staircase and Lizzie swirled her cinnamon stick in the dollop of shipped cream on top and had her first taste. "Oh, heaven." She said before shooting Amélie a look, "I still don't understand why you don't like coffee."

"Well I'm perfect in every other way so this is my one flaw." Amélie threw her hair back dramatically and Lizzy snorted.

"Still keeping up with the act I see."

"It's getting harder to tell which bit is act and which bit is real." Amélie admitted before shrugged it off."Maybe I'm just changing, apparently people do that."

"So what's new in your life?" Lizzy said conversationally.

"Well I got a cat."

"Really?"

"Yes, his name is Ink. Unlike other cats, Ink does not like chasing things, he is not interested in the printer, he does not play, he does not scratch his scratching post and he is not interested in anything at all except annoying me by jumping around in the kitchen. But he is a great listener until he….decides I'm not really saying anything that interesting and walks off but still, I love him anyway even though he doesn't let me cuddle him."

"…That sounds terrible."

"Well it's kind of nice, you know, to have something living to come home to. Makes me miss my family a little bit less."

Lizzy's face dropped. "That's why I wanted to talk to you, I've been hearing things."

All sense of ease left Amélie's body as she suddenly sat up straight, her jaw clenched.

"They mentioned them?"

"Vaguely. The hive's been more active lately; people have been rushing around a lot."

"Any new players?"

"No but you should still be careful. They've been moving east down the tunnels."

"That's closer to my home. I had guessed that They had found me but having it confirmed is nice." It was one of the better things about being a pessimist, it prepared you to expect the worst. Still Amélie wasn't really too worried, she had a contingency plan and even her contingency plans had contingency plans.

"You ever thought of taking them out?"

"Yes, I speculated that I might send information to the police and let them do the dirty work. Or set up a trap myself and get rid of them one at a time. I know Them well enough to do that really and they're very predictable."

"So why don't you?" Lizzy asked, curious.

"Because if I make the first move, they'll retaliate. Not on me but my brothers. If I keep Them busy playing hide and seek here then the family stays safe back home."

"The game is over Ames, they found you." Lizzy said and walked away wheeling her shopping cart but Amélie stayed sitting there.

She thought it over, thinking of all the ways in which she could pull one over their eyes. Amélie knew how to hide, how to blend so that they would have absolutely no idea where she was. It wouldn't be that difficult really and her mind was filled with new plans and she smiled.

"I'll just have to change the game then."


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: If you recognise it, I don't own it.**

* * *

_Ninth Life: Chapter 4_

_~4~_

His human had been odd ever since she'd come back that Friday night when he'd managed to turn into a Jotunn in her absence. She'd started moving things about, talking out loud nervously all the time. She'd done so before as well but not quite like this. Amélie kept on pacing around the room stopping only on occasion to say things like, 'I could always….no but that won't work' or some variation of it.

Meanwhile his frustration mounted. He knew that eventually the effects of the laser would wear off and that if he had access to his lab things would go much faster and he could run his experiments in peace but how would he even get to his lab? He knew it was in New York but Loki always teleported to places and had no real knowledge of routes, the city being more complex and convoluted than most, including the many realms he'd visited and Loki was growing increasingly tired of his limitations. He wondered if perhaps returning to Asgard and asking Odin to transform him back to his Aesir state if only to live out a few years in imprisonment would be better. Sure he'd tried to take over this pitiful world but over the millennia plenty had done so and the punishment could hardly be worse than this.

A few decades as prisoner on Asgard might be preferable to being relatively free in Midgard. Of course neither of the two would ever come close to what he had undergone in the void and with that thought he relaxed.

What was that silly Midgardian saying his mortal had said last week? Oh yes, it's all downhill from here.

As if she sensed his thoughts, Amélie burst through the doors humming softly.

"Bonjour mon cher!" She bent to press a kiss on his head as had become custom. Loki was loathe to admit but the unguarded warmth she bestowed upon him felt nice, especially since she expected no payment in return for them. Freely given affection was something he was unused to.

He reminded himself, when the thoughts ventured to more sappy territory, that it was only because he was a cat. If he stood before her in all his glory she would run away screaming a thought that would have made him rather proud a few days ago but now only served to emphasize how alone he felt. The only person whom he felt remotely connected to was his not brother who also fought with him every single time they met.

Ignoring his wayward thoughts, he turned to watch her as she flipped through the scrolls in her hands tearing them open and skimming over the contents quickly talking to herself as she did so.

"Bill, menu, bill, threatening letter, bank statement, ooh new credit card!" She squealed in excitement and withdrew a shiny rectangle from its depths even as he padded over to the discarded pile.

As he used his claw to carefully tease open the paper package he wondered if perhaps death threats meant something different on Midgard. She hadn't exactly acted threatened. It took him a while but luckily she was busy on her laptop and he managed to draw the heavy sheet of paper out.

'We're coming to get you Princess, watch your back.'

Not particularly creative but still fairly morbid with the usage of letters torn from other publications, anonymous save for a picture of a doll crying tears of blood stuck at the bottom. She was approaching and so he dragged the paper a bit away sitting down upon it so as to hide it from her but she didn't even look for it and he wondered how she had managed to stay alive so long in the first place. Surely someone with that lax a self preservative instinct should be dead before they come of age?

"Hey I hope you don't mind but I may be going out of town for some days and if I do I'll have to leave you with Darcy, that okay?" She asked him and he mewled in response. Loki wondered if this was a good time to reveal himself if only to make the girl aware of how she was flirting with danger but decided upon a different plan of action instead.

Perhaps he could convince her friend Darcy to do all the work for him.

* * *

Amélie woke up with a start when she heard the sound of the TV on in her house. It was probably just Ink right, she thought to herself nervously, he was just fiddling around with the remote like he usually did. She had woken up the sound of random electronics that he'd switched on many times this past week so it was probably him, she convinced herself and relaxed a bit.

When a loud growl sounded form next to her she realised it was most definitely not him. Ink was still here next to her, barely awake and very angry at being so.

Right then, intruder, They had probably come to hurt her. She could deal with this, right? Sure she couldn't really defend herself against any weapon whatsoever and being as weak as Ink she wouldn't even be able to throw a punch without seriously injuring herself but at least she had her pepper spray in her purse….which was outside on the couch.

"Crap." She cursed under her breath and padded out of her bedroom, walking on her toes to make less sound. Ink followed behind her, even stealthier. She stopped by the kitchen to get a weapon, just in case. A saucepan would work fine.

Ink disagreed. He was being silent to as to not attract the attention of the intruder but she could feel the disapproval hanging around him.

"If I take one of the steak knives then I'll probably drop it on my foot." She whispered to him. He looked at her with the same look of censure and she rolled her eyes and got a fork out as well. "There, happy?"

He clearly wasn't because he had gone ahead in front of her.

Amélie hadn't realised how creepy the living room looked when the TV was on but the lights were not, it was all shadows and neon, she hated that combination. Ink had decided to take point and take point he did. With one look at her and a nod that made her feel like she was in an action movie (seriously how freakishly smart was her cat?!) he leapt forward and with no care for himself, jumped on to the couch.

The resulting shriek and chants of 'Holy mother fuck!' had her relaxing. Darcy turned around her hair up in a messy bun and glasses askew from the random waving her eyes impossibly wide.

"What the fuck?!"

Her heartbeat finally slowing down Amélie leaned her hands on the backrest of the couch, her breath alternating between the forms of pants and gasping chuckles."I didn't know it was you!"

Darcy rolled her eyes and pointed at the weapons (utensils) Amélie still held. "I was talking about the fork."

"Ink was giving me this look when I took the saucepan so I-" Amélie stopped talking because even to her not so sane ears that sounded stupid. Darcy agreed.

"Son of a bitch gave me a heart attack." Darcy glared at Amélie's cat and Ink smirked, supremely smug. "And we need to get you a taser, a fork, seriously?"

"What are you doing here?" Amélie tried to change the subject.

"The Avengers are off fighting evil in London."

Amélie blinked and twirled the saucepan in her hand in an attempt to look menacing but stopped once Ink chortled. Were cats even supposed to make that sound? "I repeat, what are you doing _here_?"

Darcy shrugged and sank back onto the couch. "I forgot to pay my cable bill."

Amélie settled down next to Darcy completely relaxed, shortly followed by Ink who glared at the two before going over to the remote and switching the TV off. He made to walk away but Darcy picked up the remote and flicked the TV back on again and with a soft noise that sounded a bit like a sigh he nestled into Amélie's lap.

Loki was tired. He would easily be able to make up for his lost sleep during the day but it was the principle of things that mattered, this Darcy person had a habit of seeing herself into his human's house. This wasn't the first time it had happened, she had stopped by earlier when Amélie hadn't been there to steal some chocolate from the fridge. It wasn't the theft that bothered him, he was the God of mischief after all but if she kept on dropping by unannounced he would have to be a lot more careful testing his powers. It wouldn't do for her to come by only to find him in his Jotunn form with an ice cube in his hand stretched out on his human's bed like he had been doing just this afternoon. Still it had felt good to finally be in a humanoid form if only for a few hours and if only in his Jotunn (_disgusting_) form.

He sighed and put his head down in between his paws his human's hands coming up of their own accord to scratch him under his chin while Darcy stared at him with distaste.

"Your cat is way too smart."

"That's not even the strangest thing that's happened." Amélie admitted. "Sometimes at night I'll hear the toilet flush and the thing is I swear it's Ink but I didn't train him for this."

"Your cat's weird. So, perfect for you really because you're nuts too."

"And some days ago I swear I heard this sexy British voice out of nowhere. Freaked me out. Even Mrs Hess thought she heard a man's voice from my apartment when I wasn't here." She continued as if Darcy hadn't even spoken while Loki decided to be a bit more silent when lounging around the house. He sighed when he realised that meant no more singing Asgardian drinking songs in the middle of the day.

"Wait, how thin _are_ your walls?"

"Pretty damn. I mean I brought a guy home once, this was right after I moved in and the people living downstairs gave me a very indiscreet thumbs up the next day in the elevator. And then they told me to 'ride out the wave dude'."

"Weird."

"Yeah I haven't brought anyone home after that and I was getting kind of uncomfortable with all the silence. Having Ink around helps." Amélie ignored his protests and pulled him up kissing the top of his head. "Besides," she pointed at the Avengers on the screen who were fighting off a sludge monster that had wrapped itself around a giant clock tower. "_That_ makes him look perfectly normal."

It was a good thing that Loki was capable of almost infinite multi-tasking, it allowed him to be invested in their conversation while watching the Avengers' fight. He noticed the way the Hulk favoured his left side more than the right and how Captain America was particularly hapless when it came to ropes and other such binding, he had yet to figure out the knot for the net that held the two assassins suspended over the building while it was one that Thor and Loki had learnt to unravel in their childhood years. How did they ever manage to defeat him?

"No they're both weird."

"He is not!" Amélie drew him closer to her and was now winking and making a strange hand gesture towards him.

"Stop shooting your cat hearts!" Darcy shrieked.

That didn't look anything like a heart. Loki would know, he'd ripped a fair few of out of broken chest cavities. Although from a certain angle it did look like a Bilgesnipe's liver.

"Hey I have to fly out for work this week, do you mind cat sitting him for a day or so?" There was a lie in there somewhere, he could tell. His human just could not stop, he wondered if she was compulsive liar or just a habitual one. Either way he looked forward to the day her lies got caught, that would be a show he would not miss for the world.

"Do I have to?" Her friend whined and he sighed. He was as fond of her as she was of him which was not at all.

"Not if you don't want to, I'm more worried about you than I am about him really."

Darcy pursed her lips. "I don't know, what do I get if I do it?"

"My undying gratitude. And you get to stay at my place where I have cable. That way you don't have to miss out on any episodes of whatever crap reality show you're watching now."

"I do not wa-" She stopped talking when Amélie shot her a look and shrugged instead. Now Loki wanted to know what possible shows she watched that were so bad that even his human didn't like them, she kept on watching a show with a strangely hyperactive ginger man with a drinking problem all the time. He would admit to enjoying the part with the red chair though, there was something delightfully sadistic about getting a person to tell you a humiliating story that they think is funny before dumping them on their backs with the flick of a lever. He had even made plans to install one such chair in his lair as soon as he got back to normality and use it on the Avengers.

"So do you mind?"

"What? Taking care of him? Nah it's cool."

It was not cool at all, Loki thought, his human was planning on leaving him with this flake in her apartment while she had just received a threat, that just would not do. He had to do something before she got herself killed and got him killed in the process. He crept off her lap and got the threatening letter out from his castle where he'd been hiding it and came towards the couch on Darcy's side. He nudged her leg and she bent down to pick the letter from his mouth reading it over quickly while Amélie watched the broadcast, nodding off occasionally.

"Amélie, what the hell is this?" Darcy said waving her hands about in panic.

"Wha-?" Amélie was having a rough day. First the long day at work, then the letter, then Darcy sneaking in and giving her a heart attack and now something else was happening. It was very tiring and all she really wanted to do was sleep but Darcy was shouting something and she had to pay attention now.

When she blinked the vestiges of sleep out of her eyes she found Darcy standing over her with the letter she had been trying very hard not to think about and knew the shit had finally hit the fan. "Crap."

"Mind telling me why your cat just handed me an anonymous letter that's telling you to 'watch your back'?" Darcy said in a tight voice, eyes flashing with anger and worry.

"It's not for me, it was probably-"

"It has your name and address on the envelop, you still want to lie?" Now Amélie began to panic in earnest.

"Why are people sending you threats?"

"Darcy these people who've sent me this threat are people who have been after me for a very long time since before I moved to the country and the thing is the lesser you know the better because…well you're a shitty liar."

"But apparently you're not."

"No I'm not. There's a reason why I work in PR. IF you want to know, I will tell you but it's better that you don't."

"What do you know about me?"

"Apparently nothing."

"Seriously, if you had to tell …well let's say S.H.I.E.L.D. who I am what would you say?"

"This is Amélie. I've known her since she was seventeen and she's some kind of trust fund baby, she has two little brothers and five little cousins. Of course I've never met any of them so it may just be a lie so what do I know?" Darcy threw her hands in the air.

"Okay so the whole story is a bit complicated but the gist of it is that my Dad's a pretty important person in some circles and when he married my mum people were annoyed because she was 'beneath him' and when me and my brothers came into existence they got even angrier and declared us their enemies and try to kill us. Me more so than my brother, they really hate me. You with me so far?"

"Yes but I still don't understand why you lied though."

"I ran away from home when I was seventeen, haven't really stopped lying since then. And I've grown so used to it that it's become a habit. Sometimes I don't even realise when I start lying. I scare myself. But you need to believe me I have it under control, you're completely safe.

"How can you say that?"

Amélie thought over how to explain it to Darcy but felt a demonstration would be better. She picked up the writing pad next to the telephone and hastily scribbled out a message on it.

_"Just go with what I'm about to do."_

Darcy nodded and Amélie pulled back her shoulders getting ready to act.

"You're right I can't make sure you're safe and I can't really be sure that you won't go around telling people about this. I guess I'll just have to kill you won't I?" She tried to sound as cold and deadly as she could and apparently it worked because Darcy gasped before realising it was an act.

"Get away from me!" Darcy squealed going along with the pretence that Amélie was fighting her, getting a bit too much into the act and Amélie rolled her eyes. She pushed over a couple of chairs for effect before sitting down on the couch and waiting, Darcy following her lead.

"Just wait." Amélie said with a tiny smile and even though Darcy was bursting with questions she did exactly that, waited. It didn't take long before there was a knock on the door and while Amélie went to open the door casually Darcy shrunk back.

"Hello boys, it took you longer than I expected, a full three minutes. Your response time is kind of slow." She said and let the people in black suits in and closing the door behind them before turning to Darcy. "Darcy meet your security detail." She said calmly and Ink snarled at the newcomers.

Loki was often surprised by Midgardians, by their tenacity, stupidity (although it didn't compare to Thor's) and by their sheer inability to just accept defeat. But this was the first time he'd been surprised by a human for her secrets and Amélie clearly had a lot of them. That he as the God of Lies and Tricks didn't know their depths was quite telling.

"Oh I see that your partner's different this time." She casually addressed one of them while Darcy gaped.

"How did you know?"

"I saw you before. I was waiting for Darcy at a café opposite her house and you guys were there. I'm guessing your partner had an injury or was about to be sent overseas?"

"Sent overseas." The agent in charge admitted.

"Figured."

"How did you figure?"

"He kept on touching his left forearm. It was either that or his right ear; I'm guessing that's where his earpiece was. And you I noticed because you kept on tugging at your hair, I was watching for a while so I noticed when the wig moved." Loki was impressed, not blown away but still, quite impressed.

"Wait so they've been watching me all this time?!" Darcy shrieked.

The agents ignored her and focused on Amélie who simply smiled and answered Darcy in their stead. It was easier to answer those questions than the ones Darcy had about her. Amélie did not quite know how to go about telling her story without it sounding like something ridiculous and out of a comic book so she would put off that discussion for as long as she could.

"Well you're close to the Avengers but you're not a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and you have no way of defending yourself if anyone comes after you. Apart from the taser of course but as you might have seen, a lot of the Avengers' enemies are resistant to electricity."

"How do you know all this?" Darcy asked her astounded.

Amélie shrugged. Knowing what she did about the organisations' paranoia combined with the fact that Darcy had been telling her what they had probably decided to be confidential details about the Avengers, it wasn't that hard a leap to make. If she was in their place she would have done the same it was only logical.

"I watch a lot of TV. I have no life remember. Plus I've been using my contacts to suppress the stories about you and Jane from leaking, you've both been spotted at the building often and people are asking questions."

"I hate S.H.I.E.L.D."

"A lot of people do." One of the agents said and earned a dirty look from the other.

"Now boys, while stalking my dear friend here, you've been staying here for the past few hours right? And you've been watching from across the street whenever she was visiting?" Amélie asked.

"Yes." They said in unison and Darcy cursed under her breath.

"In that time did you ever notice any other people loitering around generally acting suspicious? Or hear any conversations of the threatening type during surveillance?"

"No."

"So you see Dar, that's yet another reason why I'm not scared. Being friends with you, it's like having an alarm system." She grinned and turned back to the agents, "Which reminds me, I'm going to be moving soon so that these threats stop for a while. If you give me your contact numbers I can tell you once I've narrowed it down so you can look for the best places to…hide and stalk from."

"That won't be necessary." They said.

"Yeah and I'll tell you why it's not going to be necessary because I know the perfect place for you to move to, it's safe, closer to your work and I love going there." Darcy added.

"Oh cool, where is it?"

"200 Park Avenue at East 45th Street."

"I don't think I can afford a place on Park Avenu-"Amélie stopped smiling abruptly, realising exactly why that address sounded so familiar. "Wait, isn't that?"

"Yup, I'm going to get you to move into the Avengers tower." Darcy said with a smile that was half smug and half stupid.

Cat and owner were united in their thought of 'Crap.'.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: The last two chapters have been oddly paced I know but writing only with Loki and Amélie felt too restrictive so changes were made to the original plan. I'd also like to thank all the people who have reviewed, followed or faved the story, the feedback helps a lot.**

**Disclaimer: If you recognise it, I don't own it.**

* * *

_Ninth Life: Chapter 5_

_~5~_

"Okay she's going to be here any second now." Darcy proclaimed to the room filled with superheroes, glaring them down with all her meagre might.

"What's taking her so long?" Clint asked, not really happy at the thought of some stranger living in their tower but he just got another glare.

"It's that damn cat you all rescued, he's spitting and hissing, scratching anything in sight," Darcy rubbed her hand and they noticed the angry red welts on her writ. "He's gone mental; she had to take him to the vet to get him sedated just for this trip."

"Are you talking about Prince Fluffy?" Thor exclaimed, his new houseguest's value going up in his esteem.

"Yes."

Steve, Natasha, Clint and Thor gathered to greet their newest roommate under Steve's orders. He had asked for everyone to be there but Pepper had to fly out at the last moment for a meeting and Tony and Bruce were busy in the lab. None of them were in the mood to interrupt the two scientists since the last time they had done so had resulted in everyone's skins turning a deep shade of purple. In the process of convincing them to let her friend live with them at the Avengers tower Darcy had told them a great many stories about her friend. Some of them made Steve laugh, most left him blushing much to his embarrassment and the others' amusement.

When the elevator doors opened and one scrap of a girl carrying her entire body weight and then some in bags and boxes stepped out he was taken aback. From the stories he'd heard, he had been expecting some wild eyed Amazon who dwarfed Darcy with her stature and personality. Instead the girl in front of him was a whole two inches shorter than Darcy and an entire foot smaller than him. The small grave looking face was unexpected, the doe eyes coloured in hazel were darting between Darcy and them nervously. A shock of deep brown hair that surrounded her face like a cloud dwarfed her and only added to how young she looked.

"I was expecting a grown up." He said and the second those words left his mouth he knew that was the wrong thing to say.

She didn't say anything but the raised eyebrow and the narrowed eyes had him flinching. He hung her head as she shot him a look that clearly said 'I am very disappointed in you.' and made him think of Colonel Phillips.

"Everybody say hello to Amélie, Amélie these are the Avengers."

Darcy was treating her like a shy child, prodding her to speak up and that combined with how she looked had Steve expecting a shy stuttering answer. He was once again taken aback by what he got instead and wondered what was in the waters of New York.

"I'm shocked." She drawled out sarcastically and Steve coloured.

"Well," Darcy said practically yelling, "Introduce yourselves."

"I am Thor, Prince of Asgard, God of Thunder and wielder of Mjolnir."

"Agent Natasha Romanoff."

"Agent Clint Barton."

"Steve Rogers."

They looked at her expectantly.

"I'm Amélie Kiln."

"Hey what's going on?" Bruce said, finally coming out of the labs.

"This is Amélie, your new houseguest."

"Hi, I'm Dr Banner, call me Bruce. Darcy talked a lot about you."

Thor was even more lost than the others. When Darcy had been telling them stories about her friend he had been very bewildered, unable to understand half the references that she was making. But knowing that Darcy was her only link to the house he went with what he knew about their mutual friend.

"When I first met Lady Darcy she tasered me."

This earned a laugh from her and she finally relaxed, shooting the God a smile. "She does that to a lot of people. It worries me."

A growl was suddenly heard and all the Avengers sans Tony got into battle positions. Darcy simply glared at the bag under Amélie's arm and Amélie in turn opened the bag to take out a small ball of fluff that had apparently made that terrifying sound.

Bruce breathed out shakily; the Hulk had almost come out a few seconds ago. He began to reflect on his tenuous control over the Other Guy and decided to mention this incident to his therapist at their next session.

Thor had called Mjolnir to his hand and stood there awkwardly holding the hammer in his hand berating himself for the sudden display of hostility that might have scared Lady Amélie.

Clint slowly lowered the bow he'd suddenly strung up with an arrow and turned to his side to find Natasha lowering her gun as well.

At this opportune moment Tony entered the set up, ambling down the winding staircase completely oblivious to the tension in the room. "So you're the damsel in distress Darcy wants us to save. Your knight in shining armour, Tony Stark Miss-?"

"Amélie Kiln. And you're less knight in shining armour and more the dragon while I'm here in this," She took in a shuddering breath, looking around at the city through the glass walls of the Avengers Tower, "this literal tower." She smiled nervously and it came out more as a grimace. "At least there isn't any lava."

"I see you brought Prince Fluffy." He went to pet 'Prince Fluffy' but cat they had rescued snarled at him and Tony took a step away, taken aback by the sudden show of teeth. Their new houseguest ran a soothing hand down its back and the cat instantly calmed but kept his eyes trained on Tony malevolently.

"He prefers Ink. And if you call him Prince Fluffy, he will hurt you."

"Do you speak from experience?"

"Yes." Darcy and Amélie said in unison cringing as they did so and Ink smiled, smug.

They stood in silence for quite some time. Amélie had two modes when nervous, Silent Mode and Holy-Crap-make-it-shut-up Mode. Right then she was engaged in the former of the two.

"So have you ever tried Shawarma?" Tony Sark said flashing his most mischievous and charming grin.

She blinked. "Yes."

Cue awkward silence.

"So do you like science?" Bruce Banner asked kindly, rubbing his glasses. Between the cat she held in her hands and the fact that she was fairly short, she looked like a teenager to him and he acted like a school teacher might.

She shrugged. "It's okay."

The awkward silence continued for a while before Ink broke it with a growl.

"Well I think I should set up Ink's bed and toys, it's been a long journey for him, do you mind if I just do that?" She asked Tony. "If he has his bed and scratching post and all that maybe he'll calm down."

"Yeah sure your room is the second on the right on the first floor."

"Once he's not…rabid anymore I'll come back and we can discuss house rules. I'm sure there are some places that are off limits."Amélie turned to Darcy. "Oh and you wanted me to remind you that Jane wanted you at the lab as soon as possible."

"Son of a bitch, I forgot!" Darcy scrambled to the elevator, tripping over a few of the boxes still on the floor before finally making it and by the time the Avengers turned back to Amélie she was halfway up the stairs.

"So what do we think of her?" Tony asked the group once she was out of sight and was met with an array of expressions.

"She seems nervous." Steve said.

"Well I did fly a nuke into a portal and save the world." Tony said with a self-satisfied smile. "Meeting a role model can be pretty nerve wracking."

"No not like that, she really doesn't want to be here."

"That's ridiculous; I am wonderful to live with though the rest of you are a bit iffy."

"I think Lady Amy Lee will make a fine addition to our home." Thor said boisterously.

"It's Amélie, not Amy Lee."

Thor frowned. "That's what I said, Amy Lee."

"It's Ah-may-lee."

"Ah-me-lee."

Tony sighed. "Close enough." He turned to Bruce who had an odd expression on his face. "What about you Bruce."

"There's something weird about that cat of hers."

"But what about _her_?"

Bruce scratched his head. "Uh too early to make a call but yeah like Steve said she really doesn't want to be here."

Clint added his two cents. "She wanted to discuss house rules, seems respectful of personal space. I appreciate that."

Natasha stayed silent.

"No but seriously, what is up with that cat?!" Bruce repeated.

"I don't know but he's being weird." Amélie's voice rang out and they realised that she had come down the stairs and wondered how much of their conversation they had heard. Only Natasha seemed unsurprised by her presence and Tony went to go closer to her before realising the cat was still in her arms.

"I thought you were going to put him away."

"He won't let me go. Ink isn't usually so clingy; I think he's just nervous because everything is so new."

The cat in her hands glared at them all before snuggling up to her settling his head on her collarbone lazily and she absently petted him between his ears. For a second Tony thought of the Godfather movie but it seemed much more likely that Ink would be Don Corleone than Amélie. Still if he got the chance he would do his best to get her to re-enact that scene with him.

"I was hoping we could talk about house rules and establish the boundaries." She said when it became apparent that no one else was going to say anything. "And I feel a bit guilty for mooching off you, so can we work out a rent arrangement?"

"That's ridiculous; you don't need to pay rent." Tony scoffed, insulted.

"Still, if possible I'd like to help out financially."

"Oh no, that just won't do." Tony was adamant on that front at least. He had more money than he could spend and he couldn't take anything from her, it was mean and wrong.

"Look just something, anything, I'm not exactly hurting for cash so-?"

"You could get the groceries for every other week if it helps, it will be expensive though Thor and Bruce go through a lot of food."

Thor looked puzzled while Bruce simply snorted. "I eat for two." Amélie raised an eyebrow and he blushed. "I mean because of the Other Guy. Hulk."

"I know."

"You looked like you thought I was…you know."

"Preggers? Well I just figure if you can figure out a way to make people grow double their size and turn green you could find a way to get a man knocked up."

"You would think so, but no."

"If you say so. But I'll get the groceries for the week."

"Right moving on, JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir?" The disembodied voice startled her and Ink snarled.

"Meet Amélie, Amélie meet JARVIS."

"Pleased to meet you JARVIS, I've heard a lot about you." She said politely although she clutched Ink a bit tighter now.

"Have you Miss Kiln?"

"Well yes, Darcy does tend to mention you in stories. I actually thought you were a butler or something."

"Or something would be more appropriate." JARVIS said.

"JARVIS is in charge of the security here, there are cameras all over the place except the bedrooms, of course, but there are thermal imaging cameras even there." Tony pulled up a screen that showed a thermal image of all of them in the living room, they were all represented as colourful blurs. "No one has access to that footage except for me and Pepper though so don't worry about that."

"That's…invasive."

"_I_ don't think it is." Tony said with a flick of his hand and the screen went up into the ceiling and Steve snorted in response.

"We do."

"The bedrooms are off limits unless invited but the rest of the place is open for use. Except for the lab but you need to have Avengers level clearance to get in there anyway. If you don't want to be disturbed then just tell JARVIS and he'll make sure no one gets in."

"But what about Ink? I won't be here for most of the day because of work and there are a lot of windows in the place. Plus he doesn't really understand the concept of privacy, we've been working on that but-"

"JARVIS will take care of that."

"Yeah but there's a lot of open space, while Ink isn't really stupid in any sense of the term," The cat mewled and batted her chin affectionately. Bruce took a step back staring at the cat with suspicious eyes. "This isn't exactly a cat friendly place."

"I'm telling you JARVIS can take care of it, he can close the doors and the windows, he can even use the iron man suit to save Ink. And there's always someone in the house."

"Okay but I'm hoping that no one gets too angry if he just sneaks into your room. I don't really have that much control over him."

"I promise no one is going to hurt Ink." Steve said puffing up a bit. "We would never hurt a defenceless animal."

"Oh. Okay then." Amélie nodded repeatedly, clearly nervous.

"Well," Tony said breaking the silence, "I don't know about you guys but it's getting late and I'm off to sleep. Amélie, welcome to the tower."

One by one they trickled out, all of them going off to their own rooms while Dr Banner returned to the lab to check on something. Soon there was no one there but Natasha, Amélie and Ink and the three moved to the kitchen.

"I never forget a face." Natasha said as she sat down on a bar stool at the counter.

As far as introductions went, even Loki knew this was odd and he'd introduced himself to this world by commanding people to kneel after taking a man's eyeball. The nonchalance with which the Black Widow said this was strange but what was stranger was the way his human reacted, or rather didn't react. He was beginning to wonder if this was an ongoing theme for her, to ignore threats.

She just put him down on the table and began looking around the cupboards, eventually finding a saucepan, milk and some rice. Obviously she was making him the rice pudding he was fond of as a treat. Probably to calm him down but now that she had bargained for his safety he wasn't as fearful of being weak and in the home of his enemies anymore.

"Neither do I Natalia. Although it's Natasha now isn't it? I'm guessing you're the reason why the Ukrainian diplomat was found dead in his hotel room the day after we met?"

It appeared that the Black Widow and his human had met before, obviously in a political environment. Loki absently wondered who his human really was. She might pretend to be an everyday woman in a busy city, working hard but she clearly wasn't. She had enemies that wanted her dead, knowledge of spies that worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. and was a trusted friend of the daughter of Faunaa not to mention best of friends with Darcy, an acquaintance of Thor's. No person she was connected to wasn't powerful in some way and all this while her main concern was usually that she might miss her train.

"I'm afraid that's confidential."

"Which usually means it's true."

"What are you hiding from us?"

"Everything. Nothing of importance though."

"Does your family know?"

"Of course they do." She scoffed and sat down at the table while the saucepan bubbled on the stove behind her. "It's not like I'm hiding."

"You should be."

His human snorted in response. "I should be a lot of things, famous on the internet is one of them."

_"Will someone please tell me what's going on?"_ He tried to convey his curiosity in his tone. He had figured out how to modulate his purrs without accidentally saying something, a valuable ability now that using his voice was out of question. That JARVIS would know the second he did so and would probably raise the alarms.

It was with a sinking heart that he realised that it also meant no shifting into his Jotunn form during the days when Amélie was gone. The thermal imaging system that Stark had demonstrated earlier would definitely catch on to the fact that there was a humanoid shaped cold spot that appeared out of nowhere in the house and JARVIS would again raise an alarm.

"Sorry kitty cat, it's on a need to know basis and you don't need to know." She bopped him on his nose with a finger and he growled. It broke the tension as both women giggled.

"I give it two weeks before Stark finds out." Natasha said.

"You overestimate him."

"He's a bored genius."

"So is my baby brother and he's helping me. He upgraded the security protocols in databases all over the world and is keeping a check on anyone who searches for my name. My bonny little Nathaniel has made sure that if someone is trying to find me, he will know of it before they do." Well at least he learned something about his human now. She had a little brother named Nathaniel.

"A month then?"

"Sounds about right."

"See you around Princess."

"You're one to talk Romanov."

Loki hated being confused.


End file.
